Li Sae - Li Sae

A Yangming scholar from the late Ming Dynasty in China. His first name was Zaishi, his pen name was Zhuowu, and his other pen name was Wenling. He was from Jinjiang County, Quanzhou Prefecture, Fujian Province. His works include Burning Books and Liberating Books. He called the pure and original mind that is not bound by anything a child's heart, and recognized its inner authority, opposing it to the existing value standards and moral consciousness that have become hollow. He used this as a basis for open criticism of the teachings of the Buddha, even going so far as to criticize the scriptures and saints that had traditionally held absolute authority. He also believed that this heart is given equally to everyone, which led to an assertion of equality beyond gender and class. As long as it is an expression of the truth of the heart, the distinction between the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, and the genre of literature, are not considered essential, which led to the theory of the unity of the three religions and the celebration of secular literature, and promoted respect for individuality, an attitude of self-affirmation, and egalitarianism. He had concrete and realistic insight into human beings and society, and found and affirmed the various desires in the human heart. He based his ideas on fundamental desires such as the desire to survive, and based his thinking on the development of various desires. Taking into account the negative aspects of desires, he envisioned reconstructing an order that would fit Chinese society at the end of the Ming dynasty. However, his sharp criticism and ridicule of stubborn Taoist scholars, his thorough criticism of Confucianism, his utilitarian attitude, his deviation from Confucianism, and above all his eccentric behavior in which he declared himself a heretic, led to his arrest and he committed suicide in prison at the advanced age of 76. This led to the failure of his ideas, and they remained as a challenge for the Qing dynasty and beyond.

[Hiroyuki Sugiyama February 17, 2016]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、明(みん)末の陽明学者。初名載贄(さいし)、号は卓吾(たくご)、別号温陵(おんりょう)。福建省泉州府晋江(しんこう)県の人。『焚書(ふんしょ)』『蔵書(ぞうしょ)』などの著書がある。彼は、なにものにもとらわれない純粋で原初的な心を童心とよび、そこに内面的権威を認めて、形骸(けいがい)化した既成の価値基準や道徳意識と対立させた。それを軸にあからさまな名教批判を行い、従来絶対的権威を有してきた経典や聖人にまで批判を加えた。また、この心は万人に平等に賦与されていると考えることから、性別や階層などを超えて平等が主張されることになる。心の真実の発露である限り、儒仏道三教の別や文学におけるジャンルも本質的なものとはみなされず、そこからは三教一致論や俗文学の顕彰などが導かれ、個性尊重や私肯定の態度、平等主義などが推し進められた。彼は人間や社会を具体的、現実的に洞察し、そこに人間の心にあるさまざまな欲望をみいだし肯定した。彼は生存の欲望のような根源的欲望を根底に置き、そこにさまざまな欲望の展開を基軸として据えて、欲望の否定的側面をも考慮しながら、明代末期の中国社会に適応する秩序を再構築しようと展望した。しかし固陋(ころう)な道学者に対する鋭い批判や揶揄(やゆ)、徹底した名教批判、功利主義的態度、儒教からの逸脱、なによりも自ら異端を任じた彼自身の奇矯な行動などから、弾圧を招いて逮捕され、76歳の高齢で獄中に自刎(じふん)し果てた。このため彼の構想も挫折(ざせつ)し、清(しん)代以降の課題として残された。

［杉山寛行　2016年2月17日］

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